Power Pros Forum

Even though I'm already doing the RPG, I've decided to join this latest craze and start up an RPG.

Rule #1: If you already have a OPG going (LGM, GoTwins, and me) you can't take this one as well. Standard procedure.
Rule #2: It's kind of a loose rule (because sometimes I just don't feel like writing the update) but I'll generally hold you to a standard that if you don't respond within a reasonable period of time (48-72 hours generally), I'll PM you with a reminder and then give you roughly 24 hours from then to respond to the update.

Alrighty then, on with the ceremonies! If you're interested and you're not LGM or GoTwins (or me), fill out the following:

Name:
Position(s):
B/T:
Uniform Number:
Appearance (Include height and weight please):

HS Senior Year Stats:
Interested School Level(s) (D-I, II, III, JUCO, NAIA, etc.):
Academic/Extracurricular Interests:
Background Info:

here's an example if you still don't know what to do:

Name: Bob Smith
Position(s): Center Field
B/T: R/R
Uniform Number: 1
Appearance (Include height and weight please): 6 feet tall, 195 pounds. Generic white kid with dark brown hair. Has a tattoo that says "DEEZ NUTS" on his left bicep.

HS Senior Year Stats: .320 AVG, 6 triples, 0 homers, 22/25 stolen bases, 1 error in 22 games
Interested School Level(s) (D-I, II, III, JUCO, NAIA, etc.): a handful of D-III schools and some local junior colleges (JUCOs)
Academic/Extracurricular Interests: Business major, Accounting minor, Debate Club
Background/Personality Info: Bob Smith was born in New York, New York to a single mother, who raised him along with his older brother Joe. Bob played baseball at P.S. 420, and was the starting center fielder during his junior and senior years. He is incredibly weird and the only words he ever says are "deez nuts".

Name: Roscoe Heikkenen
Position(s): SP
B/T: R/L
Uniform Number: 55
Appearance (Include height and weight please): 6'3", 175 lb, white guy with blue eyes, and flowy blonde hair.

HS Senior Year Stats: 9-2 in 12 starts, 1.05 ERA, 95 K in 82 IP
Interested School Level(s) (D-I, II, III, JUCO, NAIA, etc.): Mostly D-II schools, with a couple D-I offers, as well.
Academic/Extracurricular Interests: Journalism major, Communications minor, Squirrel Watching Club
Background Info: Roscoe Heikkenen was born in the frigid climes of southern Michigan, to a middle-class mother and father. He has a sister named Carly, who is a sophomore in High School. He is of Swedish and Norwegian descent, and started playing baseball at 5 years old for the T-Ball team, and became a pitcher when he was 10. He learned a knuckleball watching Tim Wakefield, his favorite player, on National TV. Gets good grades, but is a tad bit socially awkward.

May 23, 2015

“Roscoe Heikkenen.”

A tall, lanky boy walked up to center stage, his blonde hair flowing behind him at shoulder length. “Congratulations, Roscoe,” the principal of Kalamazoo High School said as he handed the boy his diploma. Roscoe shook his hand, took the diploma, and giddily bounced across the stage and out to where a handful of his classmates—those whose last names came before his alphabetically—were gathered, having already walked and received their diplomas.

Roscoe felt a tap on his shoulder. “Say,” the kid said when he turned around, “you’re playing college ball next year, right?” Roscoe nervously smiled. “R-right,” he managed to squeak out after a brief pause. The kid nodded and smiled. “Where?”

Roscoe’s eyes nervously shifted back and forth.

“W-where?” he repeated. “Yeah, dude, where are you going to school next year? To play baseball?”

“Oh, yeah,” Roscoe said, his eyes now focusing on some banner off in the distance.

So, Roscoe, where are you going to school?

Eastern Michigan University — A Division I program located close to home, but they have not promised anything. You will have to walk on to the team and claw your way into even getting a couple of mop-up innings. Coaches have recruited you heavily, and you have been on campus five or six times. Your absolute best friend is going here.
University of Texas-Arlington — A Division I program located way away from home. You will have to walk on to the team, but they have promised you occasional long-relief or mop-up appearances at minimum. Coaches have been up once or twice to talk to you, and you have only seen the campus once on an online virtual tour. No one has ever gone here from your high school.
Ferris State University — A perennial Division II pushover desperate for some new talent, they have promised you a spot as their Saturday starter along with a full ride (roughly 1/3 of which is for athletics). Coaches have come to every one of your games since junior year, and you have visited a total of eleven times. Two of your best friends ( one of whom is a girl ) are going here.
Northwood University — A Division II program located close to home, they have promised you a chance to fight for a starting job, and at the very least a spot in middle relief. Coaches have been down to see you play a few times, you have visited once and got a great impression. You know of a few classmates that are going here.
Wayne State University — A Division II program located close to home. They have promised you a guaranteed rotation spot. Coaches have recruited you since junior year and are in love with you as a player and as a person. You have visited dozens of times. You know several classmates that are attending here.

[oh yeah and unlike the rpg you'll make these decisions in the thread because, I mean, everyone knows it's you doing it...]

Ooh...tough choices early...I'm gonna go with Wayne State.

It was tough to choose between that and Ferris, I actually had to do a coin flip, lol.

“I, uh, I’m going to Wayne State,” Roscoe finally said.

“Oh, cool, me too! I guess I’ll see you there. My name’s Matthew Logan, by the way. I don’t think we’ve met.” Roscoe looked him up and down again. “No, I don’t believe we have.”

The next day…

“Man, that party last night was wild!” Roscoe said. “Too bad I didn’t go…Ah well, I guess I’d better get to filling out this survey they sent me to help narrow down potential roommates for me.”

—————————————————————————————————————————————

Wayne State Roommate Survey

Please include your full legal name, birthday, and email address so we may contact you. When you are done with this survey, please PM it to AgentP on the MLBPPWorld forum.

Name:
Birthday:
Email:

Questions (All required except #11)

1. Where do you expect to study most often?
A. Dorm room
B. Library
C. Empty classroom or study lounge

2. How often do you study?
A. All the time
B. 1-2 hours a day
C. Rarely or never

3. What is your preferred bedtime?
A. 10 PM or earlier
B. 10 PM to midnight
C. midnight to 2 AM
D. 2 AM or later

4. How do you like your room?
A. Very neat
B. Somewhat neat
C. Somewhat messy
D. Very messy

5. How do you like your room temperature?
A. Very warm
B. Very cold
C. In between

6. Are you a heavy or light sleeper?
A. Heavy
B. Light

7. Do you drink or smoke?
A. Both
B. Drink, no smoke
C. Smoke, no drink
D. Neither

8. Would you tolerate the use of drugs by your roommate(s)?
A. Yes, snitches get stitches y’know
B. Yes, although I would not hesitate to intervene if I deemed it necessary
C. Only some (i.e. alcohol/cigarettes, but no illicit substances)
D. Never, I would tell an R.A. or other staff member immediately

9. What genres of music do you like to listen to? (Free response)

10. What hobbies or other interests do you have? (Free response)

11. Is there anything else you would like to tell us? (Free response, optional)

<From: Cara Michael ([email protected])
To: Roscoe Heikkenen ([email protected])
Subject: Roommate Survey Results>

Dear Roscoe,

I hope this email finds you well. We have run the results of your survey in our database and determined five students who we think would be a good match for you. Please respond to this email with your choice and/or any questions, comments, or concerns you may have. Thanks!

[1 Attachment: Heikkenen Candidates]

(Heikkenen Candidates.docx)

Candidate 1: Matthew Logan
94% compatibility
Matthew indicated a desire to room with someone from near his hometown of Kalamazoo, MI. Your hometown is Kalamazoo, MI, located 0.0 miles from Kalamazoo, MI. In addition, Matthew indicated that he enjoyed playing video games and playing and watching sports in his free time. Our only concern is that he seems to be quite the extrovert, compared to your introverted personality — however, you stated a desire to “get better”, and perhaps Matthew could help you in that regard. Overall, we believe this is the best candidate to room with you.

Candidate 2: Luke Ingram
88% compatibility
Luke is from Los Angeles, CA. He is an aspiring musician who has had some drug troubles in the past and expressed a desire—nay, a need—to room with someone who would help keep him accountable. We think you could be a great match with him because of this. He is very similar to you in many other regards, namely his preferred room conditions and studying/bedtime habits. Overall, we think Luke could be a great match for you.

Candidate 3: Jacob Kingman
79% compatibility
Jacob is from Macon, GA. He loves anything and everything having to do with basketball or hip-hop, but is otherwise fairly compatible with you based on his answers to the multiple-choice survey questions.

Candidate 4: Alex Link
75% compatibility
Alex is from wherever RPG #5! took place. He likes soccer and video games. He noted that he was a ladies’ man and that he planned on partying often. Overall, we think this would be an interesting, but possibly not a good match.

Candidate 5: Harris Green
74% compatibility
Harris has a lot in common with you. He likes to listen to alt-rock, is an introvert, makes good grades, and is a pitcher on the baseball team. However, he noted that he liked to keep his room cold and messy, and that he planned on going to bed around ten or eleven o’clock. Harris is from Toronto, ON, CAN, and is fluent in English, French, and Japanese. Overall, we feel that this could be a good match if you think a solution to the room-conditions and bedtime dilemmas could be found.

<From: Roscoe Heikkenen ([email protected])
To: Cara Michael ([email protected])
Subject: Re: Roommate Survey Results>

Dear Cara,

I would like to be roomed with Mr. Matthew Logan while I'm at Wayne State. I really like the compatibility we can have as roommates.

Regards,

Roscoe

<From: Cara Michael ([email protected])
To: Roscoe Heikkenen ([email protected])
Subject: RE: Re: Roommate Survey Results>

Roscoe,

Great! I have informed Mr. Logan of your decision. You are tentatively slated to stay in room 406 in Ayers Hall. This room is part of a wing that has community bathrooms. For a slight upcharge, you can choose to stay in a suite-style room that shares a bathroom with one other dorm room (similar to the “Jack and Jill” style found in some homes), but you will have to discuss this matter with Mr. Logan first. I have given him your contact information so that he can get in touch with you.

Thanks,

Cara Michael
Admissions Counselor, Wayne State University

[One long and winded email signature later]



Well, Roscoe? What are you waiting for? Text him back! (By PMing me!)

August 3, 2015

Roscoe stood, mouth agape, looking at the completely empty room in front of him.

“447…447…Here we go.”

Roscoe turned around to face the doorway, where his roommate Matthew Logan had just walked in carrying two suitcases and a backpack. “Um…”

“Feel free to put your bags down, if you can find room for them,” Roscoe sarcastically said. “I’m Roscoe, by the way.” “Matthew Logan, at your service. Well, not really at your service, but you know, I’m your roommate and all. Hey, wait a minute, haven’t we met before?”

“Yeah, at graduation. You asked me where I was going to school. I didn’t imagine it turning out this way,” Roscoe replied.

Matthew looked around the room and finally set down his bags. “Kinda weird that there’s, you know, nothing in here,” he said. And he was right — other than the two closet/dresser combos in two corners of the room, there was absolutely nothing in the room.

Finally, another guy appeared at the door. “Hi, I’m Tommy Tripp and I’m one of your RAs for this floor. I’m just making the rounds and checking in on everyone. Do the two of you have any questions?”

Matthew and Roscoe looked at each other, and Roscoe shook his head. Matthew looked back at Tommy, a sharply dressed fellow with neatly combed brown hair and thick, black-rimmed spectacles over his hazel eyes. “Actually, I do have one question.” Roscoe looked at his roommate with a look that screamed please don’t do this. “Why is there no furniture in the room?”

Tommy looked up. “Oh, yes. The furniture. Well, you see…none of the rooms have furniture. Yet. We normally have it by now, but certain circumstances have pushed the installation dates back to this week. So we should have it all set up well ahead of the first day of classes on the 24th. Anything else?”

They both shook their heads no, and Tommy went on to the next room.

“So, what now?” Matthew asked.

A. Wander out to the quad and see what everyone else is up to
B. Hang out in the room for a while
C. Explore the dorm a little more
D. Hit the weight room
E. Hit the whip

Hmm...let's go with A.

“Hey, why don’t we check out the quad?” Matthew suggested, and Roscoe nodded and followed him outside. They quickly joined a game of frisbee that was being played by some of their freshman classmates, and made a couple of new friends. The first friend they met was Chad Bigby, who was lying in a hammock attached to two sturdy-looking oak trees, and the second was Nolan Carter, Chad’s roommate and the owner of the frisbee being played with.

Having nothing else to do, they decided to all go out to dinner on the town together. They ultimately decided to go to a Mediterranean restaurant nearby, and Nolan drove them in his electric blue Dodge Charger. They split a large platter of side dishes, full of tzatziki, hummus, baba ghanoush, tabbouleh, and pita bread, along with three orders of delicious rice, for dinner and all had baklava for dessert.

They rode back in the Charger, and when they arrived back on campus, the four of them decided to hang out in the now-empty quad and talk. Chad and Matthew quickly hit it off after learning that they had a lot in common—including their shared love for video games and the fact that they were both economics majors—and Nolan motioned for Roscoe to come over to a quieter area so they could talk. Roscoe complied, and Nolan quietly told him a few important things:

1. He’s probably going to start either at shortstop or second base for the baseball team, and
2. He’s a psychology major and an English minor, and
3. He’s an introvert, and
4. He’s trying to get better.

The next day was the first practice of the baseball season, and after the coaches introduced themselves and told the players how they were to stretch and how practice would typically run, they left the players alone under the leadership of captains Miles Jenkins and Andrew Robertson, the only two seniors left on the team after losing several players due to transfers and injuries.

Andrew told everyone to line up by class, and then paired each freshman with an upperclassman. “You, with the long hair, you’ll throw with Henry.”

Roscoe grabbed a ball out of the bucket sitting by first base and flipped it to Henry, a rail-thin and heavily tattooed sophomore pitcher. They started off throwing at a short distance and gradually moved back to about 120 feet, then came back in and finished throwing. “Okay, next, we’ll run an in-and-out fielding drills. Pitchers and catchers, you guys will take turns throwing in the bullpen over the remainder of the week.”

Henry and Roscoe walked over to the bullpen together, where the coaches told the sixteen pitchers when they would be throwing — four on each of the next four days. “Alright, you four will go on Thursday,” the coach said as he looked at Henry, Roscoe, and two other lanky freshmen.

Two days later, it was Thursday, and after stretching, the four pitchers along with junior catcher Will Tankersley made their way to the bullpen. Roscoe was told that he would go last, and he watched as Henry fired in mid-90s fastballs and sharp curves, and also watched the other two freshmen, who were overall unimpressive, showing nothing of note. Finally, it was Roscoe’s turn. “Okay, kid, you’re the knuckleballer, right?” Roscoe nodded. “Do you throw anything else?”

“Yeah, I throw a fastball, a slider, and a changeup as well,” Roscoe said. “Okay, throw five of each of those followed by ten knuckleballs, and we’ll go from there.”

Roscoe obliged, and the coach then told him to pitch as if it were a game situation. He struggled a bit with his command and walked the first “batter”, then threw a nice changeup that the coach ruled was a groundout to first base, making it a runner on second with one out. “Okay, kid, what’re you gonna do here?”

A. Fastballs down the pipe
B. Just let the knuckleball do its thing
C. Some elaborate pitch sequencing
D. Do a backflip, high-five the catcher, then throw a submarine forkball

Hmm...this update makes me want to try Mediterranean food sometime. Interesting, since I've never had it before.

As for my choices, I'll go with B, and see what happens. D would've been my second choice.

Roscoe decided to just let the knuckleball do its thing, and managed to induce a double play on the first pitch to his final “batter”. The coach told him that they thought he could maybe be a long reliever or starter for them, and after telling the coach who he was, Roscoe was promised a rotation spot.

After practice, three separate teammates asked Roscoe if he wanted to hang out. The first was Zachary Eagle, a backup infielder and DH who Roscoe didn’t know very well. The second was Mitchell Colter, a pitcher rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. And the third was Nolan, one of the kids Roscoe had met and befriended earlier in the week.

“Who should I hang out with?” Roscoe wondered.

A. Zachary
B. Mitchell
C. Nolan
D. All of them
E. No one

[side note: mediterranean food is great. i enjoy it very much.]

Heck, let's try D. See if we can all get together.

“How about we all hang out together, get to know each other better and all?” Roscoe suggested to the three boys around him. They all nodded, and together they decided to go eat at the…

A. Mediterranean restaurant
B. Pizza place
C. McDonald’s
D. School cafeteria